The Car and Truck Fleet and Leasing Management Magazine

Seat Belt Use Lower in Pickups and Deaths Higher in Crashes

WASHINGTON, D.C. – People who ride in pickup trucks use seat belts less often than passengers in cars, and the consequences are deadlier: A higher percentage of people killed in pickup truck crashes didn't buckle up compared to those in passenger cars, the government reported May 16, 2005, according to the Detroit News. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released those statistics to open the national "Click It or Ticket" campaign, which is used to enforce seat-belt laws nationwide using police checkpoints and patrols. The two-week campaign runs from May 23 through June 5. The agency says more than 80 percent of the people in passenger cars buckled up in 2003, compared to 70 percent of those in pickup trucks. In terms of fatalities: 70 percent of those killed in pickup truck crashes in 2003 did not wear safety belts, compared to 50 percent of the fatalities in cars. Statistics show seat belts reduce the risk of death by 45 percent in passenger cars and up to 60 percent in pickup trucks, SUVs, and minivans.

What made Henry Ford successful where others had failed (or succeeded on a much smaller scale)? It wasn't just his vehicles, excellent as they were-it was his unique understanding of the potential of those vehicles to transform society.